Mite Of Men: Part 2

The second part of my story. It may need a bit of editing and improvement, but I hope you enjoy it.

Part 2

Dr Jim Burton raced to the door of the laboratory and locked it from the inside, Panting out of breath, he ran back towards the wall where Edward still lay slumped in disbelief.

“Under no circumstances does this leave the room,” Jim said sternly. Edward nodded and slowly got up from against the wall, taking a deep breath, he walked over to the dust mites smashed container. “If we extract some of its DNA we may find clues.” Edward stared at the vent where the blood and destruction followed.

“That’s a good idea, but we really should be figuring out where this thing has gone before anyone else is killed!” Protested Edward; he shuddered at the thought of any further deaths.

“Our best bet is that it has gone somewhere warm and away from people to rest.”

“I suppose you’re right just now, Doc,” Edward grunted as he watched Jim pick up a jar of acid from the chemical shelf. “I’m going to get a map of the building from the reception desk to find out where these underground vents lead to. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

 Jim nodded in acknowledgement and called out, “We’ve got to stop this thing before it’s too late!” his words caught Edward’s ears right before the door clattered off of its catch as it closed.

The staircase to down to the second floor was dark and narrow. It was the only option: the elevator had stopped working a week ago. The second floor held offices and the cafeteria; it was an open-lit hall with long banqueting tables and a hotplate which stood overseeing the entire room with its kitchen directly behind it. There was no sound to be heard �" just an everlasting silence. The cafeteria leads into another small hall, which has larger steps above and below it. The doors of offices and labs stretched down the hall’s wall like an elastic band.

 From these steps was the welcoming sound of ringing from the phone at the reception desk; the receptionist picked up the receiver and answered with her warm, angelic voice.

“Hello Edinburgh technology and science facility, Rachel speaking. How may I help you today?” Her white shirt gleamed in the sunlight that came flooding in from the two glass double doors at the main entrance- it blinded anyone who walked passed, especially Edward Thompson, whose eyes were a great deal more sensitive than most. Edward tried his best to shield his eyes from the burning sight of the morning sunlight; it was no use, of course.

“Excuse me, Rachel,” Edward strained his eyes as he approached the desk. The receptionist smiled brightly at the familiar sight of the tall, blonde-haired gentleman approaching her.

“Hello again, Mr Thompson. How may I help you?” Her bracelets clanged against the desk as she leaned closer towards him and rolled her red hair around her index finger.

“Would it be possible to get a map of the building?” Edward asked while he fiddled with the change in his trouser pocket. “It’s important as I’ve lost my silver Rolex that Dr Burton gave me for my birthday. He’ll kill me if I don’t find it. I think I may have dropped in the drainage system.” Edward lowered his head and sighed as he slid his watch off from behind his back and dropped it into his back trouser pocket.

“Of course, Edward, let me just find one for you.” The receptionist went into the back room of her office where the photocopier stood and began pushing its buttons; in a matter of seconds the machine spat out an A4 sheet of paper with hieroglyphic-like markings. Rachel carefully folded the map in half and walked back to the desk. “Here you are Edward. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you watch. It’s bound to turn up somewhere,” she smiled reassuringly.  “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yes. Actually, there is,” Edward stuttered and began swaying nervously. “Could I take you out for a coffee sometime?” He waited patiently for Rachel’s response as she looked up and down at him like she was a tailor mentally measuring him up for a suit to wear.

“Sure sweetheart. Tomorrow would be good,” She said gingerly. “See you tomorrow, yeah?” The phone rang and interrupted their conversation; Edward waved goodbye and ran back up to the lab with a new found strength of determination to kill the over-grown insect before his date with Rachel.

 Back at the lab, Dr Jim Benton was busy testing one of the skin cells of the dust mite which it had left behind. Edward had walked back into the lab with a sense of accomplishment with the map in his hand and his lab coat in the other.

“Did you get the map?”

“Yes Dr,” Edward replied waving the map in his hand in triumph. “Have we learned anything about our hairy friend?” Edward laid the map out onto an empty bench and put his white lab coat back on. Jim held a test tube filled with a clear liquid; at the bottom of the test tube was one of the dust mite’s large snowflake-like skin cells.

“This is a mixture of sodium and water. I found that combining hydrochloric acid with these chemicals the dust mite’s cells disintegrate with the reacted heat of the chemicals,” explained Dr Benton, slowly pouring the acid in the test tube while holding it with metal tongs. The snowflake slowly melted in the solution; the test tube then began to break as the solution changed colour and ate through the glass. The red liquid bubbled as it fell into a container bellow it filled with a colourless alkali.

“Wow!” Edward exclaimed. “That’s a cool trick, doctor.”

“Yes it is. I hope to use it against the dust mite. The only problem is that we’ll have to get up close and inject it into its body in order for it to work.” Edward scratched his head in thought.

“How will the reactants go together without burning ourselves?”

“That’s something I’ve already thought about,” announced Jim. He got up and returned from across the lab with a small plastic syringe. “This material can withstand any kind of corrosion �" especially acid,” Jim explained, handing the syringe to Edward, who studied the syringe with interest.

“Because the sodium reacts with water and the acid adds the extra heat, I suggest that the sodium and acid should be together in the syringe. The dust mite’s body will supply the moisture for the chemicals to react.” Edward returned the syringe back to Jim.

“That sounds like a great plan. Now all we have to do is find out where this thing is hiding.” Edward pointed towards the map.

Jim nodded in agreement, “Yes. First things first, though. We have to clean this place up before anyone walks in here �" especially if they find the cleaner’s fingers.” Jim pointed out while his stomach became nauseous at the thought of picking up the decaying, wrinkled fingers.

After they had cleaned and mopped up the mess, Jim and Edward looked at the big A4 map. They found that the drainage system the dust mite had gone into lead through miles of tunnels, which are all connected to the rooms of the entire building; the tunnels finished at the bottom floor of the basement. This discovery left both scientists feeling fear of a possible public tragedy. Their first thought was to let Rachel, the receptionist, know in order to evacuate the building; but that would’ve caused panic.

Instead, Jim and Edward planned to set off the fire alarm. Jim got his lighter out from his pocket and stood on top of a stool to spark the sensors of the sprinkler system. Nothing happened. Jim and Edward gathered up paper, rubber and anything else that could burn into a large pile. With what chemicals they had left in their shelves, the two scientists made petrol which they coated the pile of scraps with. Jim used his Zippo to ignite the pile of saturated scraps; it burned with a frightening furry. The fire alarm and sprinkler system soon followed.

Outside, they saw all of the staff leave the building from their laboratory window. Suddenly, the sprinklers stopped and the fire began to slowly edge towards the two frightened scientists - Jim and Edward’s eyes grew wide with panic.

“What will we do Edward?” Jim cried out cowering away from the blaze. Edward leaped across one of the benches and grabbed the fire extinguisher attached to the adjacent wall. He ran towards the burning rubber and paper; the smell of it made both scientists croak fir air as it hit the back of their thoughts. Edward sprayed the flames with the cold vapours of the extinguisher silencing the flames leaving thick clouds of smoke to crawl into the vent.

Edward dropped the fire extinguisher with a sigh of relief and chuckled as he went over to open the window.

“Your brain is getting slow, old man,” Edward chortled as he patted Jim on the back.

“You panicked too, you little squirt!” Jim grunted back, punching Edward on his arm.

Suddenly, the door banged continuously.

“Is everyone all right in there?” A deep voice called out. “This is fire chief Brown of the Edinburgh fire department,” the voice announced.

Edward unlocked the door. “Yes, we’re all right, thank you,” he replied staring at the puzzlement of Fire chief Brown’s puffed face through his oxygen mask.

“We had an accident with an experiment, chief. We managed to get the fire under control,” Jim added as he wiped the soot off from his face with a cloth. 

“Okay, but you’ll need to come down with me to fill out an accident form.”

Yes sir, we will right away,” said Edward while wafting smoke out towards the window with his lab coat.

“Stay here, Sam,” fire Chief Brown said to a younger man behind him, who entered the room with a notepad and a tern look upon his face.

Edward and Jim followed the fire chief out the door while Sam, the fire investigator, surveyed the lab. After Edward and Jim lied, filled out the accident form, and explained to Fire Chief Brown that it was an accident they went back into the building along with the rest of the staff. On entering the hall on the third floor, they heard screams and cries for help from the other side of the laboratory door. 

Fire Chief Brown propelled his foot into the door bursting it open. They discovered the dust mite dragging and eating the legs of Sam; his nails were ripped off from his fingers and clung to the wooden door. Sam screamed out I pain as the dust mite dragged him further and further away from the door; the dust mite’s squeals sounded like joy as it thrashed Sam around the room like a rag doll.

The Fire chief bravely flew at the monster screaming in anger with his axe raised above his head ready to strike it down. The monster let go of Sam and tackled Fire Chief Brown hard - bringing him down in one swoop. The axe flew across the room and slid against the back of the door with a slam. The dust mite grabbed a hold of the Fire Chief and snapped him in half like a twig; his blood redecorated the laboratory’s white wall. Edward quickly grabbed the axe, while Jim helped Sam out of the room to safety. Edward tried to strike the giant big with the axe, but was no use: its exoskeleton was too strong. The dust mite knocked Edward to the floor and forced itself on top of him; its jaws were snapping above Edward in blood-thirsty hunger.

Jim quickly crawled to the bench in the centre of the lab to grab a long, red rubber tube and fitted it onto a gas tap. When he turned it on, the gas hissed noisily - this caught the dust mite’s attention. When the dust mite looked up, Jim lit his lighter under the hissing gas; the roaring flame began burning the mite. It bounced off of Edward with a scream of agony �" the smell of its burning skin was nauseating. The dust mite scurried across the floor away from the flame and dived back into the vent with a clatter. Jim turned the gas off with a sigh of relief and ran over to help up Edward.

“Not bad for an old timer,” Edward coughed out with a smirk. “You nearly burnt me to a crisp, though,” he complained.

“It’s better than being chewed up alive by that monster!” Jim argued, pointing towards the vent. “We have to tell the others to evacuate,” Jim wheezed. Both scientists limped their way out of the ruined laboratory, their hearts and minds haunted by bloodshed; they headed down the narrow staircase to the first floor. 

 

Author's Note

If there is any criticisms you'd like to make, please don't hesitate to comment. You're all entitled to your opinions - all of them helpfull in their own way. :)

Reviews

[Misty_Prophet]

This chapter has more action, and it's really good. Looking forward to new one.

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the doctors trying to hide the problem. The problem will appear somewhere? A lot of option with this story. I like the explanation for the turmoil in the lab. No weakness in the chapter. made me wish to know more. A excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Ryzo]

Thanks very much for your comments Coyote. I'll be posting up the final chapter soon. So watch this space!

[TheSweet]

This part is a lot stronger than the first part with content, character development and interest. There are some good lines in this, I especially like little additions that put you more into the story, like when he tried to evacuate the building by using his lighter before making the fire - It adds a little realism, as no everyone can figure out the answer imediately.

This does need a little editing though, lines like 'croak fir air' needs changing. It says 'Sam screamed out I pain' too. It's nothing too bad, always difficult to proof read longer works yourself. Also there is the problem of WC always changing -s to "s. There are four or five of those you'll need to change too.

Well done on this, it's deffinitely a little more interesting and you're on your way to finding your personal writing style :) Hope there will be more. Thanks for sharing.

[Ryzo]

Yeh, that's a bit of pain sometimes you kinda either miss words out or forget to fill them in entirely. Thanks very much for your review. i'll be posting up the final part soon, just been difficult to find time to write - unfortunately I like my sleep too much- but i'll do my best to write it up as quickly as I can. All of these new comments has given me a boost. Thanks again! :)